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Week One: Summer CSA 2016

The season so far has been, well, an exciting mix of highs and lows. A wonderful crew? Yep, Zoë, Bliz, Janna, Abby and Cierra are amazing and I’ll introduce you to them each individually in future newsletters. Three weeks with no rain? Yes, but the big rainstorm we finally got a week ago saved many of the early summer crops. Snow (three inches?!) that fell on our thousands of newly transplanted broccoli seedlings in April? Well, yes, but somehow a few broccoli plants and even the chard we transplanted the same morning survived. The toughest piece of the year is Bill’s double-whammy of a serious knee injury (with more surgery still to come) and pneumonia that hit him like a brick last week. We are so incredibly lucky, though. Friends from near and far showed up to help with the first harvest and to get the pick-up shed ready for the first CSA week. Not only that, but our awesome crew is taking the unexpected bumps in the road with humor and patience. We can’t thank everyone enough.

Enough of our challenges… the harvest is starting to roll in and we can’t wait to eat fresh greens. Finally! In this week’s share are some of our early summer favorites: gailon broccoli (otherwise known as broccolini, or Chinese broccoli) is like broccoli, but even better! The stems, the flower and the florets are all delicious. Chop it up and use it in recipes as you would traditional broccoli, or put the flowers into a salad and roast the stalks. Another favorite this week are the mild, radish-like Hakurei turnips (otherwise known as fresh-eating turnips). Cook the leaves separately as you would any other green, and then slice up the small white globes into a salad, slaw or pickle. This year we will try to have a selection of different kale varieties at every pick-up — try different types on different weeks! For example, purely for flavor I love Bear Necessities, for kale chips I use Green Curly, and for kale salad I choose Lacinato. Ask us to show you what each type looks like and enjoy the variety! And click here if you want to see Reba looking downright giddy picking the first kale of the season.

Thank you for being a part of this farm. We’re downright honored to feed you and your loved ones the freshest, most nutritious and best-tasting produce that we can possibly grow. Please be in touch with any questions you have (you can always reach Reba at 712.7382). We can’t wait to share the season ahead with you.